Zebra Ministries

Good morning Zebras,

I love you.  Five years ago, at Founders week, a lesson I have not forgot:

John 20:1–13:  Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.  So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”  So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.  Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.  He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.  Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.  Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.  (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)  Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.  They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

“Mary was a simple woman who would not let Jesus stay in the tomb.” - Ravi Zacharias.

And that is who God has called me to be, a simple woman, with no recognized Biblical training, who loves Jesus Christ and refuses to let Him remain buried in the tomb that has been created for Him by people who want a comfortable faith.

There a lot of wonderful things about following Jesus Christ but I wouldn’t list “comfortable” as one of them.  Exciting, challenging, life-changing, wonderful? Yes!  Comfortable? No. At least not when you see Jesus as He really is. “Comfortable” is probably reserved for the lukewarm. For those who still have Jesus outside waiting to get in. 

Revelation 3:14–19: “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.  I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!  So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.  You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.  Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

Jesus Christ is God and once you see that there is no way to stay lukewarm. He deserves and demands the same respect and obedience that God demanded from the Israelites.  The fact that He came in the form of man and demonstrated love and grace does not change that.

1 Corinthians 8:6:  yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

One God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, equal yet different, but both the reason we live.  And hopefully all God’s Zebras said “Amen”

Love,

Jill